Eico ST70 vs Fisher X101C?

[joel27]

I just received an Eico st70 in a trade & was wondering if it would be worth restoring. I already have a Fisher X101C and was hoping someone had already compared the two. I'm looking for pros and cons of each. Any thoughts would help. Thanks.

Here are a few pics of the Eico.

 

[Brian]

EICO used pretty good iron in their units and the ST70, at least when new and properly built was a really nice performer. But, hated their looks.

 

[derekva]

EICO used pretty good iron in their units and the ST70, at least when new and properly built was a really nice performer. But, hated their looks.

As did Fisher (good sounding iron, that is), although on some of their integrated amps, there was a tendency to fry OPTs. Not sure why.

-D

 

[joel27]

The Fishers or the Eicos frying OPTs?

 

[derekva]

The Fishers or the Eicos frying OPTs?

Fishers...but only certain Fishers (can't recall which model off the top of my head). However, pretty much all Fisher iron (even the dinky iron used on the 440/460/480-A amps) sounds really, really nice. That being said, the EICO is a really nice piece of gear.

-D

 

[Sam Cogley]

Based on my admittedly rather limited experience, I'm going to say that the Fisher likely will have a slight edge over the Eico. Slight. But...the Fisher is light-years ahead in looks.

 

[audiodon]

I can compare an Eico ST-40 to an X-101-C.
Both are cathode biased.
From a user interface and relative value perspective, the Fisher wins hands down.

From a sonics perspective, I didn't get to do a direct comparison, but since the X-101-C is my absolute favorite integrated and I found the ST-40 somewhat loose in the lower midrange and bass, I decided to move the ST-40 on so I give the nod to the X-101-C also.

It's the Fisher X-101-B that blows power transformers. That's a completely different design than the C.

 

[joel27]

Thanks guys. Those are the types answers I was hoping for. And yes the looks of the eico are pretty ugly.

 

[audiodon]

I think the ST-70 is fixed bias. That's why the comparison to the ST-40 is more apt. Eico had great engineers and I've read that they were locked in passive-aggressive battles with marketing. They have kind of a science project feel.

 

[Mid-Fi]

I have a ST70 and I really enjoy it. I am running just the power amp section with a SS pre tho. Don't care for it's looks either. Never heard the Fisher.

 

[Dadbar]

The ST-70 is fixed biased and might have slightly more power than the Fisher. If it were me I would keep it because I am a sucker for a 6SN7 front end.

 

[GordonW]

The Tronola-modded Eico ST70s will probably just leave the Fishers in the dust. Nothing Fisher made in an integrated, came close to the SHEER MASS of the outputs in the ST70. I mean, those OPTS can do FIFTY WATTS PER CHANNEL full-bandwidth, under the right conditions!

Stock, it's a lot closer...

Regards,
Gordon.

 

[joel27]

Good info and food for thought. Looks like I'll have to do some soul searching and see if I can get past the looks of the Eico.

 

[Sam Cogley]

The Tronola-modded Eico ST70s will probably just leave the Fishers in the dust. Nothing Fisher made in an integrated, came close to the SHEER MASS of the outputs in the ST70. I mean, those OPTS can do FIFTY WATTS PER CHANNEL full-bandwidth, under the right conditions!

Stock, it's a lot closer...

Regards,
Gordon.

I'm not advocating hacking up Fisher R-20 and R-30 mono receivers, but the output iron on those is huge for EL84s. Bigger even than the vaunted Heathkit iron. Possibly even a bit bigger than the OPTs in my Fisher 800B.

 

[GordonW]

Yeah, but the iron in an Eico ST70 is BIGGER than the A470 in a Dynaco ST70 power amp! Probably close to as heavy as the A431 in a Dynaco MK III...

Guy here, has the iron from an Eico ST70, that was a cosmetic train-wreck (don't worry, we're using everything of use- the knobs are going to a much-better looking ST40 he traded to me, and such). He's going to make a Dynaco ST70 clone, or something similar. I mentioned the "super mod" trick that the Tronola guys documented for these transformers- using the 16 ohm tap for 8 ohm speakers, the 8 ohm tap for 4 ohms speakers- making it effectively a 4K primary transformer, instead of an 8K primary- and that it would be GREAT for EL34s, wired that way. Yeah, theyr'e not UL- but that's about the only draw-back. I think we can design around that, no problem...

Regards,
Gordon.

 

[derekva]

I'm not advocating hacking up Fisher R-20 and R-30 mono receivers, but the output iron on those is huge for EL84s. Bigger even than the vaunted Heathkit iron. Possibly even a bit bigger than the OPTs in my Fisher 800B.

Not quite that big, but quite impressive for an EL84. I used some R20 iron for my Phisher 30A (and 30-A stereo) and it sounds pretty damn good (although it is significantly smaller than the iron in my 800C).

-D

 

[skriefal]

I saw this ST70 in person a couple days ago. 5AR4, 7591s, 7247s, and 6SN7s in the same unit? Should be a nice piece if restored. But yeah... the Fisher is the easy winner in the looks department!

 

[jaymanaa]

I think they have a cool industrial steam punk look. ara: The Eico in the right hands will slaughter the Fisher IMHO.

 

[joel27]

I attempted to power it up last night and didn't have B+ on one of the opt tubes. I've decided to take it to get looked at. I will keep you posted

 

[Dandy]

I would support considering modding that ST70. I really like the sound of my ST40 rebuilt following Kegger's guidelines to run 6L6s as triodes. A very different sound from the recapped stock amp running 7591s. I'd love to get my hands on some ST70 outputs someday.

The Fisher wins on looks, but your Eico looks quite clean and I've had good service from a guy on eb*y who sells new silver inserts for the knobs.